The Inland Revenue has appointed top advertising agency M & C Saatchi to transform its image.

The Revenue wants to be seen as the taxpayer's friend rather than an object of suspicion.

M & C Saatchi, which has handled the Conservative Party brief in the past, is expected to move on from the image of the pinstriped tax inspector, epitomised by cartoon character Hector, who was retired from TV ads earlier this year.

The agency is no stranger to difficult briefs having handled advertising for the Millennium Dome last year.

Nick Montagu, chairman of the Inland Revenue board, has said he wants to portray paying tax as a "badge of good citizenship".

Increasing complexity

The Revenue is thought to spend about £9m a year on advertising and marketing.

It has come under fire in recent years for the increasing complexity of its collection system and, in particular, self-assessment.

Its first ever director of marketing, Ian Schoolar, has vowed to redefine "customer perception" of the agency.

Campaign magazine's top ten impossible briefs

The Millennium Dome

Government kill your speed campaign

Government teenage pregnancy campaign

Nurses recruitment

Teacher training

Single currency

Government anti-drugs campaign

Skoda cars

Iceland supermarkets

Government anti-smoking campaign

He is thought to have asked M & C Saatchi and image consultancy The Corporate Edge to improve the design of its leaflets and the letters it sends to taxpayers.

The Hector character, which was voiced by the late actor Alec Guinness, was introduced six years ago for a self-assessment campaign and was meant to re-assure taxpayers.

He was retired earlier this year, to the relief of some members of the Inland Revenue's staff, who disliked his bowler hat and pinstripe image.

Unfashionable brands

Advertising has been used to turn round unfashionable brands such as Skoda cars and Marmite.

But agencies have had less success persuading people to do things they don't want to - or trying to prevent them breaking the law.

Government-sponsored campaigns, including attempts to cut down on teenage pregnancy, persuade people not to smoke and stop speeding, were among those singled out last year in Campaign magazine's "top ten impossible briefs".

Critics of the current tax system, including the Liberal Democrats and the left-wing Fabian society, have suggested hypothecation - explicitly linking revenue to what it is being spent on, such as schools or hospitals - would make people happier about paying up.

M & C Saatchi also handles advertising for police recruitment and is best known for its ad campaigns for the Conservative Party during the 1980s.